Blob and Flow keeps you company

Sometimes when you’re sitting at that computer screen it gets awful lonely. No amount of social networking or online chats will give you the companionship that you need and crave. Just tap this silver little pet and he’ll respond to your touch in all sorts of pleasant ways. Then when you’re tired of his bouncy little personality, you can force him to fall asleep.


These lights come in a blue and red form. Tap them once while they’re asleep and he’ll pop to life. You can also lightly tap him and make him wink as well as make him go a little crazy. To make him sleep again just hold down with your finger a little bit longer. It plugs directly into your USB port to keep it up and powered. This won’t be available until about the mid point of June. You can pre-order the Mathmos creation for £35.00 or about $50.

Source: NerdApproved

Sony Nextep Wrist computer of 2020!

I remember back in the eighties, when someone wanted to show some concept technology, they would say something like: “By the year 2000, this will be the technology”.

Apparently, 2020 is the new 2000. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen concept technology that has said: “this is the tech of the year 2020″.

This is a bracelet watch/mobile device called the Sony Nextep Computer, which has a pull-out keyboard, as well as an OLED screen.

Now, you’re probably thinking that the white box above the Sony Nextep Computer is the box that the device comes in, but it is, in fact, a hologram. Yes, that’s right, I said hologram. This is one of those technologies that requires holograms in order to be made real. I can’t help but wonder how far away is a holographic society?

I guess we’ll soon find out, and when we do, it will be one of those technologies that just takes over. Sort of like cell phones, texting, Twitter, Facebook, and everything else technological that feels like it sprung up overnight.

Anyway, the Nextep wrist computer is designed by Hiromi Kiriki, and I would love to see it on my wrist. Perhaps I’ll see it at a trade show and get a chance to try it out. In the words of George Takei: “Oh my!”

Armatix pistol won’t fire without the watch nearby

I have never heard of the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show, but I think it is just hysterical that it abbreviates to SHOT. It sounds like a fictional group in some anti-gun propaganda film.

Anyway, during SHOT, a German company known as Armatix had a smartgun like I have never seen before. This pistol is programmed not to fire unless you get a wireless arming signal from a special wristwatch.

As you can see from the photo, there is a green light. It means you can fire the gun. A red light means you can’t fire it. I’m not certain if the red warning light should mean that the gun will fire, so don’t mix up the light colors. The lights on the gun remind me of the phasers in the last Star Trek film.

Speaking of films, the Armatix really should be in a movie. Here’s the scene: some hero is trapped in a room with a bad guy who has an Armatix pistol. The bad guy is about to shoot him, and then the hero manages a precision knife throw that cuts off the wristwatch. The villain can’t shoot his gun without the watch.

Then the hero and the villain fight, and at some point, the hero gets the Armatix wristwatch in one hand, and the gun in the other. Then bang, final resolution, and credits.

Armatix wants to put a limited version of the high-tech pistol for about $9,700. That’s a pretty high price, but it is the gun of the future, today!

EKON car uses the power of Emoticons

This isn’t the first time that we have posted about a concept car, and many of them sort of look the same.

For some reason, they all have this odd silver or gray color, and have lights in weird places, as if they existed in the world of Tron.

The EKON is definitely something very different as its main feature could change the very road as we know it. You see, it is the only car that I know that uses emoticons.

You see that red face on it? That is the car’s happy face. Yes, this is so you can signal to another driver that you are pleased with their performance. It beats the heck out of calling that “How’s my Driving” number and reporting positive feedback.

I’m not certain how much of the print you can see in the photo, but there are a whole catalog of emoticons that you can project on your car. For example, sadness, boredom, nervousness, surprise, or even some weird ones like “LOL” and other symbols.

Granted, I’m not certain how the user gets the Emoticon. Is there an array of buttons on the dash? That could be distracting. Maybe if you just text it in, but that is texting while driving.

Well, I’m sure by the time this car comes out, there will be voice controls for this emoticon. As for now, it is just a concept.

Brain Freeze Ice Tray

Now here’s a literal interpretation of brain freeze whenever you are thirsting for an ice cold drink – thanks to the Brain Freeze Ice Tray which will come up with ice cubes that are in the shape of – yup, you’ve guessed it right, a human brain! This humorous addition to your kitchen would definitely be enough to get conversations going, and is a surefire winner for an icebreaker during parties with plenty of strangers around. Whip out an ice cold cuppa today with the £6.99 Brain Freeze Ice Tray.

Mini Cannon takes out beer mugs...

This is one of those weapons you’d expect the bad guy in a movie to start laughing at, only to get his eye taken out by the surprisingly powerful miniature cannon. Although if it were a movie, it would actually kill the person, whereas this cannon probably wouldn’t go quite that far. The itty bitty brass cannon is fully functioning and can absolutely destroy a decent sized beer mug.


To work the cannon you just do the same as you would with a full-sized, everything is just a whole lot tinier. It requires a very small amount of gun powder, steel balls and a fuse. Thankfully you don’t just get a picture of the cannon, but you can watch a video of it shoot at various objects like a light bulb, an egg and a coke can. It just doesn’t get much better than an adorably miniature cannon.

Source: Geekologie

Kaleidescape unveils M300 and M500 Blu-ray players

Kaleidescape is a name that is associated with movie servers, and today they take a slightly different route with the M300 and M500 Blu-ray players hitting the market. Of course, reading on further will reveal that they are not just Blu-ray players per se, but are media players of a higher level. Both models will be based on the company’s proprietary M-Class architecture, where this next generation of players are more than capable of delivering a new and improved onscreen user interface alongside Blu-ray support. To up the ante, the M500 Player is capable of copying Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, and CDs onto a server, while both models enable imported content to be played back instantly, making this more or less the first multi-zone movie server for Blu-ray in the world.


Copying Blu-ray Discs would definitely be a concern to movie studios who are wondering whether Kaleidescape is on their side, or on the side of pirates. Well, they definitely are with the former, since it requires the original disc to be present when playing Blu-ray content from the server. Basically, you would still need to make sure the Blu-ray Disc is in the tray of an M500 Player, which doesn’t really make much sense logically though (assuming this is an Utopian world and everyone who owns a server copy has the original stashed away somewhere), as you might as well watch the movie straight from the disc itself, eh? To make sure one experiences the full Kaleidescape experience for Blu-ray, the company is working on a disc loader that will keep a large number of discs present within the Kaleidescape system. It will also offer bulk import that makes life a whole lot easier when it comes to finding and retrieving a disc.

Kaleidescape has also enhanced its onscreen user interface, where the Kaleidescape Movie Guide is touted to be the largest and most comprehensive of its type with over 135,000 titles, including more than 3,300 Blu-ray Disc titles. Patent pending video bookmarks as well as control triggers that automatically adjust screen masking, lighting and curtains during playback are also thrown in for good measure. The Kaleidescape M500 and M300 Players will ship from next Tuesday onwards for $3,995 and $2,495, respectively.

Press Release

A Hollywood Sign Makeover

I’ve sure we all know the iconic Hollywood sign, but it is undergoing some dire straits. Hugh Hefner himself recently donated $900,000 to preserve the 138 acres it is founded on.

Bay Arch, a Denmark-based architecture firm has an idea to completely restructure the Hollywood sign. Not only do they want to keep the original letters, but they want to make them into a hotel.

In fact, they want to more than double the size of the 45 feet letters and turn it into a 105 foot tall resort. It would have clubs, movie theaters, spas, and all sorts of things that could easily make this the new Hollywood “place-to-be”. It will even have an observation deck.

Considering that the sign itself was originally built in 1923 as a part of a real-estate promotion, it is fitting that some sort of housing would be built there. I don’t know if you know this, but the sign originally spelled out Hollywoodland but the last part was removed in 1949. If this hotel becomes reality, then I suppose Bay Arch could expand by putting “Land” on it.

Personally, I would love to just see this. I mean, how cool would it be just to stay in a resort that looks like leters? Can you imagine the conversations afterward? “Oh, yeah, I stayed in the Hollywood Hotel. Yeah, I was in the L-Suite, the second L.”